I can definitely tell I’ve dropped my last 5lbs for race season… Running at 185lbs makes a huge difference for me – not necessarily with time, but in how I feel during and after my runs. It also makes it easier to get the following WOD done.

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” – Jack London

I can’t lie… Getting the WOD done early this morning was pretty tough… I had my first ever photography showcase in downtown Phoenix last night. It was a blast, but meant a late evening.

This was meant to be a body weight WOD, so I took my time with the first one, stretched out, then put on the 40lb vest and battled through four more sets. Admittedly, it took a while, but I got through it!

Your turn!

WOD 9-18-15 (Body weight WOD)

Warm up – jump rope (up to 5 mins continuous)

Main set – aim for up to 5 sets total

30 burpees

30 push ups

30 crunches

30 squats

30 lunges

30 pull ups

Cool down: Walk it out, STRETCH, and rehydrate!

That’s it. I’ll be climbing Camelback with the weighted vest this Sunday. I recommend a long run or something that challenges you, physically, this weekend.

“Some days you’re the bug. Some days you’re the windshield.” – Dr J. Zahradka

This past 10 days, I was both…

My Aviation Law teacher used to say this in class all the time. Some days you get messy, but you just power through all the crap and get through it. Other days, you just get squashed.

Rough spots in life don’t happen all the time, but they do happen. The good news is that they don’t last. It’s just important to do what you can to get through it, then move on…

When it comes to your training regimen, it’s important to make sure you try to, at least, do something, to keep your performance level consistent. The goal, of course, is to lose what you’ve gained, not necessarily to improve on what you have.

For me, it was the ‘Hotel WOD’ every day I was on the road. If you need a reference, here’s the link: http://wp.me/pQTWM-xG

Today, my WOD was a version on the crossfit benchmark, ‘Angie’.

So the target number today is 100 – Repetitions, that is. Feel free to chose the number 200 or 300, though. Or 20 or 30. It’s up to you based on your ability. …but 100 is the goal. For each exercise.

WOD 9-16-15

100 push-ups or burpees done as(choose one)

1 x 100

2 x 50

4 x 25

10 x 10

100 crunches done as (choose one)

1 x100

2 x 50

4 x 25

10 x 10

100 air squats done as (choose one)

1 x 100

2 x 50

4 x 25

10 x 10

100 pullups done as (choose one)

1 x 100

2 x 50

4 x 25

10 x 10

***If you do not have the shoulder/arm/back strength for pullups (not kipping), ‘jumping’ pullups (done exactly as it sounds), lat pulldowns (on a machine), or bentover rows (with a straight bar) – just don’t skip it!

All done! Remember to stretch out and relax your muscles while re-hydrating yourself!

The main reason for success or failure of any training program is ‘consistency’. Pounding out your workouts on a regular basis is what will get you to where you want to be at the end of your training regimen. There will be some days where you feel like you just didn’t get anything out of your workout – but days like that are important because even if you didn’t ‘move forward’, you definitely didn’t fall backwards in your progression.

When it gets rough to get up and get going, just remember why you started.

In about a month, my ‘race season’ begins. One Tough Mudder, two Spartan races, and the first XTERRA trail race in the first month. I’ve got to stay focused and work on staying well rounded.

So today we’re starting out with one of my favorite WODs of all time – ‘Up and Down the Mountain (remix)’

My Nike sportwatch completely died on me, so I can’t share my run with you, but I’m working to fix that… =D

Take your time. Focus on your running form. Focus on your breathing. Focus on nothing else, but the run.

Training for the next set of events (Spartan, Tough Mudder, XTERRA, and RAGNAR), requires a good amount of running. So I ran this morning. I’ll be running on Saturday morning. …and I’ll be climbing Camelback on Sunday.

“Growth, in some curious way, I suspect, depends on being always in motion just a little bit, one way or another.” – Norman Mailer

I’m not going to lie… I woke up an hour-and-a-half late this morning! I flew a contract flight on the other side of the country yesterday and then airlined back home to Phoenix last night. It made for a long day, and my body made me tap out without me knowing! =D

So… I woke up the kiddos, made them breakfast and whipped out this 15-minute WOD while they got ready for school. It’s not the WOD I was intending, but I made it as intense as possible, by leaving out the breaks between sets. It helped that I set my coffee maker last night, so a couple of swings of Peet’s finest ground beans got me started.

I didn’t stop to wonder if I should train this morning – I just did it. Getting going was the most important part.

This is what I did…

WOD 8-26-15

Warm up: Grabbed a coffee mug, filled it with coffee, went out back to my gym… Hahaha… just being honest.

“When you get right down to the root of the meaning of the word ‘succeed,’ you find that it simply means to follow through.” – F.W. Nichol

Well… It’s Monday and I’m off to a crazy start!

The climb up Camelback yesterday was fun. I think I could’ve broken my 28 minute barrier, but my partner was puking halfway up – I couldn’t just leave him. That’s ok, though, because I can tell that my consistent training is starting to pay off.

That’s really the secret to succeeding with your training regimen (or anything in life, really…). Once you make the decision to do something, all you really have to do is commit to it, then follow through.

I was editing photos late last night and woke up about 40 minutes late, so had to rush my WOD. BUT… I got it done AND got the kiddos to school, AND got the parent-teacher conference done, AND got my first appointment out of the way. I get busy, but I made a commitment to myself and I wasn’t going to let it go just because I had a busy morning.

I hope you’re doing the same.

With said… Let’s get to it! It’s a repeat of the WOD from two weeks ago – short, intense, and all good.

WOD 8-24-15

Warm up:

Light jog for 5-10 minutes

Begin a warm up stretch once you’re warm, then

up to 100 air squats, or as many as you can do in 5 minutes, whichever comes first.

Main set:

20 pullups, then 20 pushups

15 pullups, then 20 pushups

12 pullups, then 20 pushups

10 pullups, then 20 pushups

10 pullups, then 20 pushups

You’ll need three sets of dumbbells, at least 10lbs apart. My last one was 15lbs.

up to 14 reps, alternating/side, then 20 pushups

lower the weight, up to 14 reps/side, then 20 pushups

then burn out on the lowest weight.

Finish off with 2 sets of hanging leg raises to failure. Hanging like that at the end actually helps to stretch out your entire back, work your core, and completely finish off your forearms and grip strength – it’s three in one!

That’s it! Short, sweet, and intense.

Cool down with another light jog for 5-10 minutes, followed by a good stretch out.

At the end of the week, it sometimes gets tough to just get up and punch through my WOD. Some weeks just seem longer than necessary and by the time you get to Friday, you just want it to be over.

I get it.

But here’s the thing… I’m training for race season. I either want to succeed or I don’t. It really is as simple as that… So I just open my eyes, throw off the covers, fall out of the bed, plank for a minute, roll over, then start doing crunches until I’m awake enough to get up, put on some clothes, then get going…

One step at a time.

It isn’t so easy if you think about all you ‘want’ to do during your workout, but if you break it down to just one bit at a time, you can digest it easier. If a lazy ass, like me, can do it, so you can you.

Let’s do this!

WOD 8-21-15

Warm up:

5-10 minute walk/light jog with occasional walking lunges, followed by a stretch once you’re warm.

Main set:

Super set 1 (*do ‘jumping pullups’ if you can’t do this many pullups, but don’t change the number of reps)

20 pullups, 10 knee-to-chest jumps, 20 plyo-pushups, 1 minute plank

15 pullups, 7 air squats, 15 plyo-pushups, 1 minute plank

10 pullups, 5 air squats, 10 plyo-pushups, 1 minute plank

Super set 2

20 walking lunges/per leg, 5 burpees, light jog bag to starting point

complete 3-5 sets

Set 3

Hanging knee raises – 2 sets to failure

For more of a challenge, do leg raises and get an extra set in, even if it’s just 2 or 3 reps.

Cool down with another 5-10 minute walk/stretch and get hydrated!

That’s it!

This weekend, get in a long run or some different physical activity for a few hours. I’ll be doing my usual ‘morning summit’ up Camelback with friends. I hope you have a great weekend!

“To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.” – Chinese Proverb

…and just like that, it’s Wednesday!

It was a long day yesterday for me. I ended up in Montreal, QC and met up with my best friend from high school. It was a good time, but made for a long night.

Fortunately, for me, I have a late start for the day so I slept in (something I rarely do) and have just now completed my WOD. Mornings like this take a while for me to get going, so I start slow and just speed up as I start to wake up. The first step is always just moving in that direction…

Here’s what I did! Follow along, even if you don’t know the words. =D

WOD 8-19-15

Warm up with a light 5-10 minute walk/jog – just enough to get your body warmed up to stretch out.

Main set:

7-14 ‘Burpee/Pullups’ (5 sets)

Catch your breath, then:

Air Squats– 7 sets (30 second break between sets)

Rep count is 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 3

Walking lunges– 4 sets (1 minute break between sets)

Rep count – 20 reps/set

Squat/Box jumps– 3 sets (2 minute break between sets)

Rep count is 14 reps/set

Finish off with a set of hanging leg raises to failure, then stretch out.

It’s not usually a big deal for me, but I have to get on a plane in a couple of hours, so just completed my WOD before heading out.

During the morning climb up Camelback yesterday, I noticed I had a lot explosive power. Not only that, but I had it for much longer. I did a couple ‘bursts’ up up the trail and felt pretty good doing it. I attribute it to my plyometric work. So, that’s what we’ll be focusing on this week – explosive power.

Let’s get to it!

WOD 8-17-15

Warm up:

5-10 minute light jog, followed by stretching session once your muscles are warm.

3-5 minutes of jump rope, followed by more stretching. Take your time.

5 pullups + 5 plyo pushups (for an added challenge, place a weighted ball under one hand, do an explosive pushup and land with your other hand on the ball. Do it again to get to the other hand. That would be ‘one’ rep)

Minimal or nor rest between sets

3rd (final) superset (5-8 sets)

10 Standing ‘Step Out’ Lunges (Lunge with one leg, then step back to the original position. Lunge with the other leg, then return. That would be ‘one’ rep)

7-11 jumping lunges (Jump up and land in lunge. Jump up again and switch legs, and land in a lunge. That would be ‘one rep)